When I Go Down
by do.you.care.enough
Summary: One-shot. A.J.'s dream. Rated M for language, nothing else. Please read and review! C'mon... I'll be your best friend...


A/N: Just a quick one-shot that I had in my mind when I watched this movie today. Read and review!

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When I Go Down **(An Armageddon Fanfic)**

By DoYouCareEnough

*****

"…I could spend my life in this sweet surrender

I could stay lost in this moment

Forever…"

-Don't Want to Miss A Thing by Aerosmith

*****

Rocks flew at us while the elevator went down. Harry, the father of my fiancé, Grace, solemnly stood next to me. The doors opened, and we were once again exposed to not only the asteroid itself but the very trenches of outer space.

"Harry… Tell Grace that I'll... I'll always be with her." I say, stepping out onto the jagged rocks.

"Yeah. Okay kid." He says.

"I love you, Harry." I declare, and he nods.

"I love you too, A.J. Now do good." He presses the button on the elevator, and it starts to ascend back to the main part of the shuttle.

Deep in the back of my mind, I knew this was backwards. So was that dream, or is this a dream? Was I the one who really died? Was Harry the one that got to take care of Grace, or was I? Had the past three years of my life been nothing but a giant, horrible dream? Did I really have to live through that in a dream, and then live it in reality also?

The shuttle took off without a hitch, and I knew that was wrong, too. There were supposed to be problems! People should be panicking right now. Lev was supposed to push Watts out of the way and start banging on the machine… No!

When the shuttle was far and gone, I knew it was time to push the button. Everything was in place… How had it got into place? I don't remember doing anything… Whatever. Just press and hold. So easy a caveman can do it. But what about a hot-shot oil driller who always listens to his gut sense even though his gut is sometimes… wrong?

A bit of the asteroid broke off, and a spray of gas went shooting into the air. Rocks pelted me, the chunks getting bigger and bigger. It was almost a rhythmic physical beating. They cracked the glass on my helmet, and I panicked. I pushed the button, and held it down. Nothing happened. Oh, shit. Shitshitshitshitshitshit! What am I supposed to do? Oh, God.

"Fuck." I mutter, letting go, then pushing down and holding the button again. I look out to the way that the shuttle had gone, desperately searching for an answer. No answer came.

In a split second, everything changed.

Yes, the world was still screwed, because the trigger wasn't going off.

The thing that changed was that now a giant hunk of rock was coming strait towards me. It landed on me, crushing the detonator. So now the world was really screwed.

As I lay there, dying, Grace came on the screen in my helmet. She looked somber. I took in her beautiful face once again, wishing that I could be there with her right now. Tears streamed down her face, and she shook her head. What? God, Grace, say something! I tried to speak myself, but no words came out.

"You've failed." She finally said, forcing the words out. "Why did you fail? You failed us _all_." My eyes widened and I scrambled for words. No, Grace! I didn't fail! Didn't she know? The detonator wasn't working! Then the asteroid hit the detonator… Why did she think that I'd failed? Grace shook her head once again, and she disappeared off the screen.

"No!" I screamed, my voice finally working. "Grace, no! I didn't mean to!"

And then I died.

*****

I awoke with a start, gasping for breath.

"Shit." I mumbled, trying to calm my racing heart. My moving around was so loud that it woke Grace up. She stirred, and rolled over to face me. Her eyes opened, and she smiled at me.

"It was just a dream, baby. Go back to sleep." She goes back to sleep herself, and I lay down, trying to do the same.

Dream… Just a dream. That was all it was. There was no failure on my part. Everything was just as I'd thought it was. I wasn't dead, the world was alright. Except for Harry. Oh… Harry. My friend, my father-in-law. Actually, my _father_. There wasn't any other term for it. He was the person I aspired to be just like… The person who'd saved me life. The bravest fucking guy I've ever known.

Okay. Dream. Just a dream.

And then I went back to sleep.

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A/N: Please review!


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